Only after the CIA-Amiri relationship matured did they take the next step: moving him to the U.S. by secretly spiriting him out of Saudi Arabia during a June 2009 pilgrimage to Mecca. They gave him a new life, new academic opportunities, and all the money he could ask for. But the mercurial Amiri got cold feet, anonymous officials insist, and then, boom: runaway nuke scientist. And – publicly at least – the Iranians act like they won their ex back at the end of the date movie.

The bureaucratic and geostrategic imperative behind these stories is understandable enough. The agency needs to a) make itself look like it's already pwned the Iranians after Amiri's flight, and b) badly needs, after eight years in the extraordinary-rendition and torture business, to refute his claims that he was kidnapped and abused. But now it's wading into territory that could put its ex in jeopardy. Consider this from the Times piece:

Mr. Amiri, a specialist in measuring radioactive materials, is not believed to have been central to any of Iran’s efforts at weapons design. But he worked at the Malek Ashtar University, which some American officials think is used as an academic cover for the organization responsible for designing weapons and warheads that could fit atop an Iranian missile. Those operations are run by Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, an Iranian academic with long and close ties to the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps.

That's very specific detail about who Amiri was and how he was in a position to snitch on the Iranian regime. And for all that regime's triumphalism about Amiri's return, its going to be interrogating Amiri in the coming days, as the Times notes, following the Iranian foreign minister's ominous vow, "We first have to see what has happened in these two years and then we will determine if he’s a hero or not." The agency is now putting out details that will aid in those "determinations," which, as human rights groups have endlessly documented, are notoriously brutal. Perhaps the agency is putting out fake details of Amiri's past, but anything it makes public is going to make those interrogations longer and more perilous.

If this is an attempt to get Amiri to come back – or to give a potential triple agent (!) some top cover – it's an extremely risky move. And if it's an attempt at letting the door hit the scientist on his way out, it's irresponsible.

Also, to certain CIA officials who are going to react harshly to this post: I reached out to you to hear more about your side of the story and you didn't reply. Consider this some real talk. We've known each other for almost a decade now. I'll drive out to Langley with a couple bottles and we'll get through this together.